Thursday, June 24, 2010

Last year at the end of June we were putting the finishing touches on our courtyard.

The concrete "stones" had just been colored and sealed and

I embarked on the most time/thyme consuming planting job I'd ever undertaken.

Now, a year later, I can honestly say it was worth it. As I walked across the courtyard this morning, the scent was heavy in the air and the colors of the wooly thyme, creeping thyme, "little prince" thyme, and elfin thyme had that tapestry look I was hoping for.

And thankfully a year later, there's still little red shoes clicking across the courtyard,

but now Cholita would like you know that she's moved onto "high heels".

And there's still the same blankie, looking worse for the wear. We're pretty much down to batting.

Last year, the fountain wasn't in yet and the whole place looked like a construction zone.

This year the fountain is in, although rarely running. I've decided I almost prefer the birdbath effect. Besides, did I mention how loud it is?

Hi from Georgia. We have wanted to place concrete 'stones' like this in an area in our yard that will just not grow grass. We watch dirt grow - not watching grass grow. Where did you get the 'stones' and how did you get them stained and sealed? Did you have to prepare the foundation in any special way. It looks really great! Oh one more question - why the thyme and not little mondo grass or the like? Susan

I can't seem to get to your e-mail, so I'll have to answer here! We actually poured the concrete and then cut in the "stones". We used watered down paint to stain them and then used a concrete sealer. The color has definitely faded. We used thyme because I thought it would look and smell nice. It does, but weeds still manage to come up. I think mondo grass would be fine, but it's not as "stepable" as something low-growing like thyme.

We are about to start on our backyard. I wondered how you got rid of those weeds you mentioned at the very end of the post?Thanks for the great inspiration. I will be finding a place to put those beautiful ground covers somewhere in my yard now!

Unfortunately, I've found no great way to get rid of the weeds except by pulling them. I've got a great, skinny little spade that works perfect. Every Spring (it's almost time!) I spend a day getting the whole courtyard weeded and then for the rest of the growing season, it's something that I do periodically. I hear about plants that are "weed barriers", but I think I've got some pretty tenacious weeds!

Beautiful courtyard!I have this same look in my backyard except I used flagstone instead concrete. The thyme has been growing for 6 years or so and I now need to trim it back because it is covering so much of the stone. I too have the weed problem and do the same... spend an afternoon getting them out and keep on top of them afterwards. I have tried a few other ground covers and the thyme is the best under foot and the smell is heavenly. The overall look is beautiful but it does require maintenance. In the end it is so worth it!

I love this idea, we have a garden on the north side of our house that has a stone path in it, currently it is pebble rocks but I would love to put in large slab rock and then something in between. What state are in you in, I'm trying to figure out if thyme would be something that would grow in my area or not.

WONDERFUL FANTASTIC! I WILL LIKE TO DO IN MY LARGE FARM. LIVE IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL AND HERE IS ICE ON THE FLOOR DURING WINTER!! COLD TO RESIST THIS PLAN?WHAT IS THE NAME OF PLANT?SORRY FOR BAD ENGLISH.marcosandredaluz@yahoo.com.br

Eileen I love your patio! Beautiful job. Could you please let me know how you painted the concrete? (What type of paint, colors, etc.) The "rock" seems to have multi colors and I wondered how you did that.

I know your post is old but I am wondering how you poured the concrete to look like flagstone. After considering real flagstone, we realized we have a lot more time than money and are looking into how to pour our own "flagstone" substitute. YOURS look so authentic! Please share how you poured the flagstone: mold? out of what? then just break off the corners? etc. Thank you so much!

Looks marvelous, splendid, and so on. Thanks for the combination idea! I've just used it on my own area, which had been Rupturewort Green Carpet, which is divine but didn't work well as I added stones because it grew over them, devoured them actually. The thymes I'd been mulling but hadn't thought of the combination, that combination, and a local nursery just happened to have a good stock on all three. I use real flagstone. It comes cheap here, but here is the mountains. Thanks !

Why Scravings?

The family vernacular for tidbits of food left on a plate after a meal, as in, "I'll give my scravings to Charlie," or "I CAN have dessert. This is just scravings." It seemed an appropriate word for the little morsels thrown out on our blog. Sometimes tasty, sometimes destined for the dog dish.